Heat-Haze Days
by Rinail
Summary: Natsume Hyuuga has one hour to kill on August 15th, 12:28 P.M. He heads for the park, the exact place where his younger sister died one year ago. Finding a girl there, he talks to her and is surprised when her story is similar to his. As she chases a black cat, she gets hit by a truck, the same way his sister died. Suddenly, he finds himself in a loop of death with no way out.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Heat-Haze Days

**Rating: **T

**Summary: **Natsume Hyuuga has one hour to kill on August 15th, 12:28 P.M. He heads for the park, the exact place where his younger sister died one year and one day ago. Finding a girl there, he talks to her and is surprised when her story is similar to his. As she chases a black cat, she gets hit by a truck, the same way his sister died. The next day, the girl is back, but her story is different, and so is his. Suddenly, he finds himself in a loop of death seemingly with no way out.

**Disclaimer: **Ahem, the fact I put a disclaimer here in the first place explains it all, don't you think? I don't own GA or the song Heat-Haze Days.

* * *

Natsume smirked as he called out to Ruka. "Sure, whatever you say. See you in an hour."

The blond yelled back, "One-thirty, Natsume! Don't forget! Hotaru's going to kill me and you if you're late!"

The raven waved his hand in acknowledgement as he silently rolled his eyes. He wasn't that forgetful, unlike his friend Koko.

He crossed the street, trying to decide what to do in the meantime. When he finally focused on his surroundings, he found himself standing in front of a swing set of a park.

He glanced at the sign at the entrance. The bright red letters glared at him, and he knew it was the same park where his sister had died by a truck.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" a voice said suddenly.

Natsume turned around, finding a brunette sitting on the swings. He sat down on the swing next to her, noting that the day was rather nice. The wide blue sky, the sun's rays, a few white clouds, and the occasional annoying sounds the cicadas made. It seemed like nothing could go wrong. It was one of the reasons he hated it.

"No. I hate summer," he said bluntly.

The girl laughed. "Surprising. I hate summer too."

"Why?" he asked, feeling a genuine spark of curiosity.

The girl closed her eyes, reopening them seconds later. She stared at the road, smiling sadly. "Right there," she said, pointing to the exact spot Aoi had died, "someone I loved died on this day."

Natsume looked at the girl. Her shoulders were straight, her eyes free of any bags, and she didn't have that haunted look, or the hardened eyes. "You don't look very sad," he stated.

She turned to face him, and Natsume was surprised when he saw the bright smile on her face. "Of course. I'm not going to be sad when I know there was nothing I could've done."

Natsume's eyes flashed. He stood up, suddenly angry at this girl, this stranger who knew nothing about the pain of seeing someone die. She waved off death like it was nothing, free of any guilt on her shoulders, and smiled too brightly for someone who saw death happen. "Nothing you could've done?! You could've done something, at least. You —"

"I know that, Natsume. I couldn't have done anything at the time because I didn't know anything, unlike now. It's not going to happen again," she said determinedly, her hazel eyes shining.

_Not going to happen again? _he thought. _What the hell does she mean? Nobody gets a second chance. _

He stared long and hard at the girl, who had leaned down to pet a black cat and was now crooning softly to it. Finally, he shook his head, sitting back down on the swing again. "I don't get you."

"You wouldn't, unless you know," she said knowingly.

He was about to ask, "Know what?" when the cat jumped out of her arms and into the street.

She chased after it, not noticing the traffic light had turned red.

She didn't even have time to see the truck before it hit her.

He saw it happen. The truck slamming into her thin body, eyes widened like his own as she saw the blood stemming out, tears streaming out as the pain overwhelmed everything.

He heard it. The screeching of the delivery truck, the bones crunching sickeningly under the rubber tires, and her piercing scream, full of pain. It filled the air, and her scream was the last thing he would hear that particular day.

He felt it. The warm, red liquid splattering onto his cheek, oozing into his ratty shoes, and the loss of air as he choked out of sheer horror of the scene. The only thing that was running through his mind was that Aoi's death didn't even compare to the monstrosity of the event.

He smelt it. The metallic scent of blood, now mixed with the girl's own fragrance. He couldn't remember what her original scent was anymore. The blood was everywhere - on the road, the truck, the telephone poles, _everywhere_.

It was a dream. It had to be, because even reality wasn't this cruel. It had to be a dream, because to do that to a girl who seemed so innocent was just _too damn horrible_.

"This is real!" a voice called out. Natsume spun around, trying to find the voice. Next to the girl's - oh god, _don't look _- limp form, a tall, shimmering blue shadow of a boy (himself?) stood laughing, arms spread out. "This is reality!"

His hand flew to his mouth. He was going to throw up, he knew it.

This couldn't be reality.

The town's clock's large hand turned, reading twelve-thirty.

As the concrete rushed up to meet him, he thought he vaguely saw the shadow waving to him, mocking him. Like it was going to see him again.

His last thought was that he never gave the girl his name.

* * *

Natsume's eyes flew open, his breaths shaky pants as his heart raced. Numbly, he turned to the window next to his bed, making sure of his surroundings. He sat up, turning his phone on for a few seconds to check the date.

The words and numbers stared up at him: August 15th, 12:16 P.M.

He released his breath. It was a dream. It wasn't real. The girl had never died, never met him, and probably never existed.

Even as he reassured himself that it wasn't his fault she died, Natsume couldn't quite convince himself fully. He felt like a hypocrite, thinking it wasn't his fault he couldn't do anything. It wasn't his fault she had died. Hadn't he said those exact words to her, said it was her fault and that she could've done something?

He knew. Although she wasn't real and existed solely in the dream, it was still his fault she died.

If there was a chance, he would save her.

Because there was something he could do and he _knew_ that.

Luckily though, there wouldn't be a next time.

With a determined nod, he rose from his bed to meet his friends.

* * *

"So, don't forget, Natsume! Don't be late like you were today!" Koko yelled at him from across the street.

Natsume yelled back, "I don't want to hear that from you, idiot!"

Koko grinned as he walked on the path back to his house.

Ruka touched Natsume's shoulder. "Seriously, though, don't forget. Hotaru's seriously going to kill us if you do."

"Don't say that," Natsume snapped, feeling a chill down his spine. He didn't like those words. They were too haunting, especially after he had a dream involving death.

Especially after he saw a death as gruesome as that.

"Say what?" Ruka tilted his head.

"Don't say things about death," Natsume said. He added, "I'm talking about Aoi."

That seemed to confuse Ruka even more. "Aoi? What about her?"

"What do you mean what about Aoi?" Natsume narrowed his eyes. "Even Koko's not that inconsiderate."

Ruka laughed nervously. "I seriously don't know what you mean by Aoi. She's on a date with Youichi. She's not dead or anything, though you probably wished she was."

All this ran through Natsume's head. If Aoi wasn't dead, as she was in the dream, then what else wasn't real? Or was real?

Natsume bolted down the street, heading for the road to the park he knew all too well.

"Where are you going?" Ruka called.

"I'll be right back," he said, sprinting now.

Panic filled his heart. He didn't know why, but just knowing the fact that she could be there just made him choking with fear - fear for her.

She couldn't be there. It was just a dream, a figment of his imagination. It wasn't real. It _couldn't_ be.

_She shouldn't be there. _

Breathless, he stopped at the park's entrance, trying to find the girl on the swings. His crimson eyes scanned the playground, hoping with a growing sense of dread that she wasn't there.

Because she was a dream, something not real.

_She wasn't__ a part of reality_.

Feeling an immense sense of relief upon not finding a single brunette near the swings, he turned around and started to head back where he came from.

Until a chillingly familiar voice froze him in his tracks.

"Looking for something?" a brunette asked, hopping of the bench she had been sitting on.

He whirled around.

No.

No.

_No._

Every damn thing was the same.

_Nothing_ had changed. It was the same exact person, right down to the last hair.

_No. _

The black cat, her black and gold school uniform, even that annoyingly bright smile.

It was her.

She was real.

_She was real. _

"Hey, are you okay?" the girl asked, reaching out to touch his arm.

He jerked back, not wanting to believe it. If she touched him, it would prove that she was real and not his imagination.

If she was a dream, she wouldn't die, because it was just a dream.

_She_ _couldn't be real. _

Hesitantly, he asked, "Did anyone close to you ever die near this park?"

She looked surprised, but she answered anyways, a (relieved, maybe) smile on her face. "No."

Natsume sighed in relief. He almost didn't catch the next words she said.

"No, but I saved him from death."


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Heat-Haze Days

**Rating: **T

**Summary: **Natsume Hyuuga has one hour to kill on August 15th, 12:28 P.M. He heads for the park, the exact place where his younger sister died one year and one day ago. Finding a girl there, he talks to her and is surprised when her story is similar to his. As she chases a black cat, she gets hit by a truck, the same way his sister died. The next day, the girl is back, but her story is different, and so is his. Suddenly, he finds himself in a loop of death seemingly with no way out.

**Disclaimer: **Ahem, the fact I put a disclaimer here in the first place explains it all, don't you think? I don't own GA or the song Heat-Haze Days.

* * *

Natsume's veins froze. Slowly, he raised his eyes from the bloodless ground and met her own. "What did you say?"

The girl tilted her head. "That I saved him from death?"

Natsume swallowed thickly. "How?"

_Please don't let this be true, please don't let this be true._

_Please, just don't let this be true._

"I saved him from getting hit by a truck. Why do you – oh, come back!" she said to the cat as it jumped out of her arms.

The dream's images played out almost like a mirage next to the current time's. He could see her running out to the street, her eyes focused solely on the cat as the light turned red. She wouldn't notice the panicked honks of the truck, telling her to get out of the way. She wouldn't even have enough time to turn her head as it —

No. Not again.

Running desperately, his arm reached out for hers. He caught her wrist just before her foot touched the road. A second later, the truck whizzed by where she would have been standing had he not stopped her.

She turned her head, a quizzical look on her face as she faced him. "What is it?"

"Nothing." Perspiration dripped down his forehead as he sighed in relief. "We should just go home now. I heard there was a storm coming soon," he lied.

"Really?" she inquired. He nodded. "Oh, okay then. Let's go," she said, pulling him along.

As they walked, Natsume noticed the people surrounding them looking up and pointing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the brunette running. _For what? _he thought.

Just as he looked up, he saw an iron pole falling from a building - towards him.

He couldn't move. It was like a scene from a movie: the pole falling in slow motion as it streaked towards him. His mind went completely blank and he felt his entire body turn numb. Was this the end for him?

_Slam!_

Natsume looked down slowly with eyes widened in dismay. This couldn't be real. His eyes, they were lying. Everything was a lie - the screams, his nerves, the blood - it was all a lie.

Everything must've been a lie, because it wasn't him who felt the piercing pain of an iron pole tearing through his body. It wasn't him who was being pinned to the ground due to the gravity of the poles fall. No, it wasn't him, and it certainly wasn't him who was going to die.

The girl coughed weakly, blood staining her lips. She had pushed him out of the way. The pole had pierced her - _not him._

No. It should've been him.

Because of him, she was going to die again.

It was a horrible déjà vu moment; hearing the blood splattering on the asphalt, coloring it red like a grim painting. Seeing the liquid ooze off the pole that had pierced through the girl.

"No," he whispered. Then he screamed, at her - at the girl - who kept dying before his quacking feet. "Why'd you do it again?!"

He dropped to his knees as his hands outstretched towards the brunette. They hovered a foot away, not sure what to touch or how to help. This unnatural scene, it had shaken his core to the point of petrification.

The girl slightly turned her head at him and smiled, mouthing something he couldn't see through the hazy blur. The blur that had become all too familiar to him.

She was already starting to close her eyes, the knowing smile still intact. Her mangled body slowly began to become limp.

"This is the real thing!"

His hands dropped as the shadow loomed over him, whispering again, "This is the real thing."

"Wake up, boy, and face reality," the shadow said, clapping a hand on his shoulder.

The clock tower chimed, signaling that it was now half-past twelve. Just like in the dream, the end had come at twelve-thirty.

Before he fell into unconsciousness, Natsume thought he saw a black cat - who had stoically been observing the scene - turn from atop the building where the pole had fallen from and trot away.

* * *

August 15th, 12:04.

Natsume stared disbelievingly at his phone, the numbers staring up at him, taunting him.

_Bam._

It was like something had actually hit him, making him remember all the events that had happened in the dream with a sickening clarity. The freshly spilt blood, the overbearing scent, even the lack of air he felt as he saw her fall to the ground.

No. It wasn't a dream anymore, and he knew that. It had _never_ been a dream.

Natsume grabbed his jacket and rushed out the door, his thoughts consisting solely of saving the girl. His once graceful, calm movements had become frantic. He _needed_ to save her.

Finally, he spotted her, swinging lightly on the same exact swing as in the past. She stroked the cat, seemingly without a care in the world. Natsume ran to her side, grabbed her wrist, and began sprinting to his house. S_he wouldn't die, _he thought. _Not this time._

"Where are you taking me? Hey!" the brunette said indignantly, futilely trying to free her wrist from Natsume's strong grasp.

"Just come with me," he said, staring ahead. If he could only get up the stairs that led to the overpass, they'd be free. "Otherwise you'll die," he muttered to himself.

The girl stopped struggling. Just as he was about to turn around to see what had changed, Natsume saw _it_, the shadow that had been haunting him.

He saw it slowly grin with sadistic malice and he knew, with a growing sense of dread, that it was going to happen. Again. The girl would die again.

Natsume turned around as he desperately attempted to salvage the brunette. But in his rush, he bumped into the girl, making her lose her footing and fall down the stairs to her definite demise.

It happened in slow-motion. Her yelp of surprise, his hand grasping nothing but air and the sick laughter of the monster that was watching the scene in glee.

Natsume's hand shot out towards her before he could think. In response, her hand outstretched towards his, futilely trying to lessen the distance.

They were so close - fingertips brushing. He felt a spark of hope; _maybe she would live after all._

"Nope, she won't," the shadow said, leaning against the railing casually. Its abrupt words made Natsume fumble in his action. The girl continued to fall, her fingers straining to reach his own as her eyes began to tear up in subconscious fear.  
The shadow suddenly smirked wickedly, wiggling its fingers at her. "Bye, Mikan," he hummed softly.

Natsume stumbled a few steps down when the final disk of her spine made contact with the hard concrete. He watched in horror as he saw her blood stain her surroundings and heard her fragile bones crack under the pressure.  
Seeing the red blood splatter across the staircase, Natsume suddenly remembered why he hated his eyes.

* * *

_Tick. Tock._

_Tick. Tock._

Without checking his phone, he knew it was August 15th, sometime before twelve-thirty.

Because twelve-thirty was when it always ended, and it'd loop back all over again to the beginning.

His haunted eyes had bags from seeing the countless deaths. Natsume didn't want to get up.

Getting up would mean going outside to face the death that was inevitably waiting for him, and the shadow who kept taunting him that it wasn't a dream. No matter how hard he tried to convince himself, the shadow would always be there, reminding him of the gravity of the situation.

How many times had he seen a death painted by red?

Ten?

Fifty?

One hundred, maybe?

No, that wasn't even close.

How many different ways had he seen the deaths occur?

Ten?

Twenty?

Ninety?

No, that wasn't quite right either.

Natsume exhaled slowly and grabbed his jacket and phone, making his way out the door. Maybe this time would be different. Maybe this time, he wouldn't have to realize how accustomed he had become to death.

* * *

"No!"

The train passed by.

Blood was already pooling out on the gravel, her legs crushed and shoe still stuck where it had gotten caught.

Being the devil Fate was, the train's brake had stopped working.

Natsume fell to his knees. "Why?" he asked again. His eyes never left the gruesome scene as he searched for the answers in her closing eyes. "Why do you..."

He couldn't finish.

The girl - Mikan - opened her eyes once more, the light in them already fading. She mouthed something, and this time he could tell what she was trying to say.

_"I have to save you, because you're the person I love."_

_What? _he thought incredulously.

She smiled and her eyes closed, leaving him with that confusing message.

The shadow behind him smirked. "You lose again," it whispered. "You better win soon, moron."

Natsume slowly turned around. "What did you just say?"

The smirk widened, showing its teeth. "Wake up, and face the next death."

* * *

Three more times he had passed out in the laughing heat. Three more deaths added to the ever-growing list. Three more red ways he saw her die.

He had already given up.

Natsume was walking on the sidewalk, his feet taking him to her certain death. Not his death, but someone else's.

Mikan's.

He was still puzzling over what she had meant when she had said that he was the person she loved. Natsume was pretty sure he had never met her before today.

He froze as realization struck him.

This cycle had probably repeated for decades without him even knowing it. Probably without her knowing it too.

How many times had she died before he was aware? How many _ways_ had she died? Who was causing her to die?

No, those questions weren't the vital questions. The important question was staring at him right in the face.

How many times had _he_ died?

Natsume slowly smirked, having figured it all out.

There was only one way to end the cycle. He should've done it a long time ago.

He ran, his footsteps lighter than ever before. He could see her now, sitting on the swing she had been on for the last whatever days while stroking the black cat that would bring her to death.

Right on cue, the cat jumped out of her arms.

Natsume ran towards them, towards Mikan, and pushed her out of the way, putting himself before into the way of the truck.

He turned towards her, a genuine smile adorning his face. Mikan's eyes widened, tears already flowing down her rosy cheeks.

He remembered everything now: the winters and summers spent with that girl, spent in happiness and eye-rolling at her stupidity. All gone on August 15th, twelve-thirty.

The moment he had died.

His shadow, that had been haunting him since this phenomenon, gazed on in horror as it watched its human get slammed by a massive truck. Not only would Natsume die, but it, the shadow, would as well. It was all over - for them at least.

_Slam!_

He coughed, blood dribbling down his chin.

Damn. It hurt.

White-hot pain lanced up his legs, his arms, and even his hands as bones cracked and crunched. Bruises and scratches from the impact were scarring his twisted body as his deformed body began its descent to the ground.

He could see Mikan standing in a red haze, like a reflection of his blood that was sprayed on the road. Her eyes were wide in horror as she gazed at his twisted and mangled body.

Natsume smiled at her, the woman he loved. Now, she was free. No longer would she die and no longer would she have to be trapped within this loop. He had set her free.

His smile vanished in abhorrence as a blue shadow emerged from the side of her body. _No, _he thought, _this can't be._

The shadow was identical to Mikan. As it turned to stare at Natsume, he knew that not only had he made a grave mistake, but he had also doomed his beloved.

The clock shattered. It was the end.

_Or, _he thought, staring at the girl's shadow in shock, _the beginning._

* * *

Mikan stroked a white cat, tears falling from her dark eyes. "I failed this time too," she whispered.

Unknown to her, a blue shadow passed through Mikan, and into the hallway of tainted clocks, a devilish smirk on her face.

She picked up the pieces of the broken clock and fit them together, the pure-white pieces forming a sound clock once more.

Looking up at the multiple clocks that were smeared with red, she waved her hand like she was cleaning a slate. She grinned at the white and ticking clocks, and snapped her fingers to clear the memories away.

It was all very easy for her, since she was Fate itself, after all.

Aoi picked up the clock and rewound it to 12:28.

"Let's play again, shall we?"


End file.
